AAAS Conference

AUSTIN – Birth control for insects? It worked in the late 1930s to eradicate a deadly agricultural pest called the screwworm, and it worked again in this century when the screwworm showed up in the Florida Keys. The screwworm had not been seen in the United States for decades when it was found infesting endangered…

Rather than worrying about some far-fetched doomsday scenario akin to Terminator or I, Robot, artificial intelligence researchers are concerned with the real-world dangers presented by modern A.I. In recent years, eminent scientists and intellectuals, including Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk, have warned of the existential risk entailed by developing advanced artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence researcher Jennifer…

By Kathryn Cawdrey AUSTIN, Texas —That common grey bird eating out of the neighborhood garbage can may be an indicator of your own health. A researcher at University of California Davis has discovered that pigeons living in New York City get lead-poisoned much as kids do. “Pigeons live in the same areas, eat a lot…

It’s a future version of normal life that we often see intergalactic science fiction films: intelligent extraterrestrial life walking among us as equals. Whether in pop culture or real life, the question of “Are we truly alone in this universe?” still stirs in 2018. A group of scientists presented their research on the future of…

By Jing Ren BOSTON– Fish is regarded as a heart-healthy dinner option, but seafood lovers should be aware of the potential health risks from improperly handled fish. Food-borne illnesses sicken 48 million Americans each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Seafood-borne pathogens caused 188 outbreaks and 4,020 illnesses from 1973 to 2006,…

BOSTON – Everybody’s talking about “fake news,” but not everyone likes the term. Some prominent voices in the worlds of science and journalism expressed their disdain for phrase in a panel session on the Saturday of the 2017 AAAS Annual Meeting. “It is not a good term, at least for many of us in real news,”…